that means -- [ applause ] >> republican now admit that president obama has won the debate on tax rates. >> my view is, get the tax issue off the table. it's the weakest one for the republicans. >> boehner does not have unity behind him. so it looks as though his path is going to be to concede on rates. >> i guess what i'm saying is, i don't think there's a republican alive who can stop what's going to happen. we don't have the leverage. the power isn't there. >> republican lawmakers continued to undermine speaker boehner's negotiating strength. >> a lot of people are putting forth a theory and i actually think it has merit where you go ahead and give the president the 2% increase that he's talking about, the rate increase on the top 2%. >> will i accept a tax increase as a part of a deal to actually solve our problems? >> no republican makes more sense than the original house defector on tax rates, congressman tom cole. >> they go off automatically. i can tell you that the sun is going to come up in the east tomorrow and set in the west. that doesn't mean i had a darn thing to do with